2Physics Quote:
"Many of the molecules found by ROSINA DFMS in the coma of comet 67P are compatible with the idea that comets delivered key molecules for prebiotic chemistry throughout the solar system and in particular to the early Earth increasing drastically the concentration of life-related chemicals by impact on a closed water body. The fact that glycine was most probably formed on dust grains in the presolar stage also makes these molecules somehow universal, which means that what happened in the solar system could probably happen elsewhere in the Universe."
-- Kathrin Altwegg and the ROSINA Team
(Read Full Article:
"Glycine, an Amino Acid and Other Prebiotic Molecules in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko" )

A path-breaking research paper by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the July 14 issue of Physical Review Letters describes an experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom, which at present is at least five times more precise than the national standard clock. The experimental clock consists of a silver cylinder which acts as a magnetic shield that surrounds a cryogenic vacuum system. The heart of the clock, a single mercury ion (electrically charged atom) is brought to rest inside this chamber by laser-cooling it to near absolute zero. The optical oscillations of the essentially motionless ion are used to produce the "ticks" or "heartbeat" of the world's most stable and accurate clock.

The mercury ion ticks at “optical” frequencies—much higher than the microwave frequencies measured in cesium atoms in NIST-F1, the national standard and one of the world’s most accurate clocks. This achievement of shifting the operation to higher frequencies allows time to be divided into smaller units and reach greater precision.

The current version of NIST-F1 —if operated continuously—would neither gain nor lose a second in about 70 million years. The latest version of the mercury clock would neither gain nor lose a second in about 400 million years.

This improved time and frequency standards would eventually lead to improved synchronization in navigation and positioning systems, telecommunications networks, and wireless and deep-space communications and would allow designing improved probes of magnetic and gravitational fields for security and medical applications. This would also let physicists investigate whether “fundamental constants” used in scientific research might be varying over time—a question that has enormous implications for understanding the origins and ultimate fate of the universe.

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